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Breast-feeding 'smells sexy to other women'
Childless women may get turned on by the scent of another woman breast-feeding.
Scientists in Chicago asked young mothers to wear pads in their bras and under their armpits.
Other women who then sniffed them reported increased sexual desire.
Experts say the smell may be an evolutionary signal from one woman to another that it is a good time to reproduce.
New Scientist reports the study adds to the growing amount of evidence that humans can communicate through scent.
Julie Mennella, of the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia, and a team at the University of Chicago, collected the smells of 26 nursing mothers.
Another 45 women, who had never given birth, then underwent a three-month "sniff challenge".
Four times a day for one month they all sniffed phosphate-covered pads. Then some were given pads used by breast-feeders while others were given a control scent.
The first group reported significantly heightened and more enduring sexual desire and fantasies.
Ms Mennella, who presents her evidence this week to a meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences in Florida, said: "The data is pretty striking."
Breast-feeding 'smells sexy to other women'
Childless women may get turned on by the scent of another woman breast-feeding.
Scientists in Chicago asked young mothers to wear pads in their bras and under their armpits.
Other women who then sniffed them reported increased sexual desire.
Experts say the smell may be an evolutionary signal from one woman to another that it is a good time to reproduce.
New Scientist reports the study adds to the growing amount of evidence that humans can communicate through scent.
Julie Mennella, of the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia, and a team at the University of Chicago, collected the smells of 26 nursing mothers.
Another 45 women, who had never given birth, then underwent a three-month "sniff challenge".
Four times a day for one month they all sniffed phosphate-covered pads. Then some were given pads used by breast-feeders while others were given a control scent.
The first group reported significantly heightened and more enduring sexual desire and fantasies.
Ms Mennella, who presents her evidence this week to a meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences in Florida, said: "The data is pretty striking."
